


Panacea

by echoflowertea



Series: Open Requests [25]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, F/M, Female Reader, Reader Is Not Frisk, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 22:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7951144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoflowertea/pseuds/echoflowertea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both of your boyfriends are sick. Big deal. You’re confident you can make sure they get back into tip-top shape. It…might just take awhile, is all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Panacea

**Author's Note:**

> **prompt** :  
> 

“A-anyway, I think that they’ve locked themselves in their house for…quarantine.”

“Quarantine.” You pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance.

“Y-yes.” Undyne huffed and readjusted her labcoat, drawing her phone out from her pocket. “S-Sans was the one who texted Alphys and then she let me know. I think she was going to try and force him to exercise out of it, but, um…I convinced her not to.”

You sighed in relief. “THANK YOU. I can’t even imagine. I didn’t even know that monsters could get sick, I thought they just Fell Down?”

“Well…that’s a very simplistic view.” She looked like she was having fun preparing to explain. “Monsters generally don’t have complex systems like humans do, b-but magic is a large part of how healthy we are! If our magic has trouble discharging, or we interact with something that upsets the balance of our magic, then we get sick! It usually takes a few hours of intense rest and remedies to get us back on track, but it can be very uncomfortable and puts us out of commission in the meantime.

“W-whereas humans all have immune systems that work to fight off any infection or invading bacteria, monsters don’t. So we rely on introducing other or similar magic into our systems, like with specialized formulas and foods! Our sicknesses are also a bit contagious, since our off-balance magic could give out…um, sort of a ripple effect? And then transfer to other monsters. M-my guess is that one of the brothers got it and then passed it on, so they’re trying to be considerate in making sure i-it doesn’t spread.”

Dang. That was good to know. That was why the both of them took your cold so seriously, and why they were so uncomfortable with how long it took for you to get over it.

“Guess I should go and see how they’re doing.”

“R-really? Even after knowing all that?”

You shrugged. “They’re my boyfriends, they don’t feel well, and I can’t catch what they have. So why not? Besides, I have to pay them back for the last time when I got sick.”

“Well…g-good luck.”

“Thanks, Undyne.”

You stopped by the local shop to pick up some basic stuff for them. Things that would recharge their magic and stop the invading type from making them feel like crap. 

You wondered what this meant for monsters who had different magic types. Did that mean that they were, like…“allergic” to each other? And they had to sort of suffer together as their magic got used to one another? That sounded really lame if it were true. But you supposed that it would’ve only applied to monsters who were close enough that their magic got into disarray. Like siblings, family members, lovers, that sort of thing.

From what Undyne said, it sounded like something rare. So you didn’t want to brush this off and act like nothing was going on.

You sighed at the massive QUARANTINE sign on the front door, written in Sans’ very large and very bold scrawl. Something to scare you away, definitely. But you fished out your key and let yourself in anyway.

“Hello? Guys? I decided to stop by and take care of you!”

Silence.

You glanced around the living room. It was filthy. There were empty bowls of what looked like soup abandoned on the table, the shades and curtains drawn in the living room so it was pitch black, the TV gone to static. Where the hell were they? You couldn’t hear any signs of life anywhere. Save for Sans’ special socks littering the ground, it looked like this place had been abandoned.

“Sans? Papyrus?”

Nothing.

Shit.

Maybe their recovery took a turn for the worse. You’d heard of monsters Falling Down, which was like a coma that usually ended in their death. What if you were too late? And you spent so much time just thinking that they needed their space and leaving them here, alone, that the both of them perished under the pretense that you didn’t love them any more?

You bit your lip and walked into the kitchen.

Relief.

“Papyrus.”

He didn’t turn around. Just continued to lean on the counter, hunched over the sink like he was about to throw up. Monsters didn’t do that, did they? 

You went to reach out and touch his shoulder, and the sharp static of his magic sloughed off onto your bare hands. It was…not a very good sensation. It felt like you’d been doused with ice cold water and then a sharp breeze swept over you. But despite the way it made your insides squirm, you pursued him and forced him to face you.

“babe?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

He gazed at you like he finally recognized who it was that was in the house. His eyesockets were hollower than usual, a brittle sheen around the edges. But instead of making some sort of terrible pun or pretending not to be under the weather, he stepped forward and pinned you to the fridge.

Head on your shoulder. Entire body weight on top of you. You struggled to hold him up while he whispered your name in your neck, tone so soft and uncharacteristic that your entire face went red. His trembling fingers trailed up your hips and settled there, a choked laugh leaving his throat as he kept you as close as possible.

“P-Papyrus??? What’s gotten into you?”

“warm…”

“You’re cold?”

“nyeh heh heh…”

“Oh my god.” You didn’t know what to do at this point. Every time you made a move to push him away, he just came in closer. He couldn’t get enough. At some point, you put your hands on his chest and kept him at arm’s length just enough to see that his entire face was red.

“Ugh, you look like you’re burning up. Can we please try to find Sans? If you’re this messed up, I can’t imagine how he is right now.”

You managed to convince Papyrus that hand-holding was enough to satiate his desire for touch. He’d never been this affectionate before. It was jarring to see what this had done to him. You wondered if maybe this was a reaction exclusive to your presence, or if it was just something that came out of sickness as a whole. Whatever the case, it was as annoying as it was adorable. 

At his shuffling pace and absolute refusal to let your fingers loosen even the tiniest of spaces, it took you quite a while to get up the stairs.

“Sans? Saaaans!”

Something crashed in the other room. You hurried to the door and fumbled with the knob, only for a massive jolt to rush through your arm. “Dammit, Papyrus! I told you to take off the electric buzzer!”

He didn’t respond. He was too busy leaning on you.

You steeled yourself and tried again. This time, there was no quick spark that nearly gave you a heart attack. You went to push on the door when you found the wood stuck to the frame. Enough that you had to put a lot of backbone into forcing your way through. A jolt of pain ran through you as soon as you burst through, nearly stumbling forward and landing on the ground from the sudden loss of resistance.

Papyrus was quick to catch you. “hey. keep still, will you?”

“Ugh, are you conscious or not? I can’t even tell at this point.” You held both of his hands and pushed them far away from your body. “Are you messing with me?”

“nah. but i do. wanna _mess with you,_ that is.”

You decided to ignore that, no matter how much it embarrassed you. He really was out of it. You pushed ahead and stepped into Sans’ room.

He was curled up in bed. Facing the wall.

“Sans…?”

He grunted and buried himself further in the covers. “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

Oh, and he was getting on _you_ for being grumpy before? This tone was something you’d never heard of before, let alone thought would ever come out of his mouth. Well, if you had any reluctance in believing that the brothers were actually sick and not just faking it, this was your sign.

“If you really want me to leave, I will.”

Silence.

One.

Two.

Three.

Then, “GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!”

Wow.

You knew not to take it personally, but it still stung. You turned heel and felt like you wanted to leave just to spite him, but recognized that this was just the sickness talking. Sans would’ve never given up on you. He saw you disheveled and grimy, rolling around in soiled clothes and made sure to help you clean up when you threw up. He was a devoted and caring boyfriend, so you stepping out when times got rough was just…cowardly. Maybe if he was fine with taking care of himself, you wouldn’t feel so bad about leaving. But the fact was he was ill, enough that his usually positive and cheery disposition faded to something teeming with anger and short-temperedness.

You weren’t going to let him go that easily.

You and Papyrus traversed the room where he was. He had rolled himself up in a burrito of blankets. Peering at you from under the covers with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face.

“Whoa. Sans, you don’t look too good.”

His eyes welled up with tears immediately. “I KNOW. I DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE ME LIKE THIS! GO AWAY!!!”

Ah. So that was it. He was embarrassed about how he looked and felt.

“I’m not going anywhere. Scoot over, okay?”

Sans grunted and moved over to the wall where he could curl himself in something as small as possible. Refusing to separate himself from the blankets and pillows, wrapped up tight enough that you could see every dip and curve in his body. It looked like he’d even taken off his usual outfit and replaced it with something loose and boring so he would be comfortable.

Papyrus settled in next to you without even asking. Crawling so that his head rested in your lap. He stared up at you for a moment before he closed his eyes, dropping into a deep snooze that shook the entire bed with his deep, rumbling snores.

Well. This was where you would be unless you did something.

Reaching deep inside your coat pocket, you pulled out the plastic bag that you’d rolled up and shoved inside. It was some kind of chopped vegetable that you were supposed to sprinkle in their tea, but it didn’t smell very pleasant. More like muddy rain than anything.

The shop you purchased it from had several different rows of things to address this problem, but they were sorted by magic. Sans and Papyrus had control over blue magic, which was a really interesting type. They showed you how it worked before, and you still couldn’t get over how incredible it was. But this type of magic, the shopkeeper told you, was pretty common and he had plenty of things to choose from. You’d picked up the closest one, in the hopes that it would be strong enough to help them through this, but now it looked like it was going to be harder actually getting them to use it.

“Sans, can you do me a big favor? Please?”

He pouted and shrank away from you. “I DON’T WANT TO.”

“You don’t even know what I’m asking!”

“I CAN FEEL IT AND IT FEELS TERRIBLE!!! I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR IT! PUT IT AWAY IMMEDIATELY BEFORE I DO IT MYSELF!!!”

You faltered. You were trying to do something nice for them, but maybe this _was_ the wrong approach. You really had no clue in how to address their needs outside of the quick discussion with Undyne and the store owner, and who knew if he was being truthful in the first place? He could’ve just given you fish flakes and called it good.

No. 

Be. Strong.

“Sans, if you don’t drink this in your tea, I’m breaking up with you.”

“WHAT?!”

He shot up from his spot and stared at you, tears sticking to his cheekbones. Oh, wow. No wonder why he wanted to shy away from you. His entire face was enshrouded in a black mist that looked like a swarm of insects.  That…must’ve been the magical discharge that Undyne was talking about, but it was still terrifying.

But you couldn’t let him know that.

“You heard me.”

“YOU’RE BEING SO MEAN. I DO NOT LIKE THIS.”

“I know. It’s for your own good, though.” You put your hands on his face to gaze at him steadily, ignoring the way the magic drove into your system. It made you a little nauseous at first, but you adapted just as quick and were left with just a touch of lightheadedness. “Will you help me make it? I can’t trust anybody but you.”

He seemed enamored with the fact that you’d gotten this close to him despite his frightening appearance. “O-OKIE DOKIE. IF YOU SAY SO.”

That was easier than you anticipated. You went to jump up and get the water boiling when you found yourself. Stuck.

Whoa.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic! DON’T PANIC!!! You struggled underneath the invisible weight that seemed to pin you to the mattress, the packet of herbs or whatever the hell it was falling down between the bed and wall. Shit, no!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I’M READY TO GO!!!”

God, Sans was really pushy when he was sick. You squirmed on the bed and he watched you from the doorway, browbones lifted. It must’ve looked like you were having a seizure. Or just trying really, really hard to impress him by doing “the worm” that you learned from someone who had absolutely no business attempting to dance.  

“ARE YOU HAVING A REACTION TO OUR MAGIC??? I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! I SPECIFICALLY PUT THE SIGN ON THE DOOR TO AVOID THIS AND PUTTING YOU IN DANGER!!!”

You went shock still. “You did _not_ just say that to me.”

“WELL IT’S TRUE!!! I’M NOT TAKING IT BACK! I-I’M GOING TO CALL ALPHYS SO SHE CAN SAVE YOU FROM OUR POISONOUS PRESENCE!!!”

“SANS!” you shouted. It was too late. He’d practically bounded out the door on all fours, his legs too weak to speed away properly. You knew you could catch him if you could find out just what the hell was going on here.

You hated this. It was like night terrors, except you were awake! You thrashed until Papyrus’ eyesocket snapped open, rolling around to gaze at you.

“Paps! Please, get me out of this!”

He didn’t move an inch. “nah.”

“PAPYRUS!!!”

“can’t. too hard.”

So this was HIS doing? What gave him the right to pin you here?! You tried to reach him, but he seemed much more interested in rolling over and cuddling your leg like a pillow.

With your final ounce of strength, you forced your body to move. Your SOUL protested in the middle of your chest as you tore away from the overwhelming presence of…was that…magic?

You came down hard on the bedroom floor and struggled to pick yourself up. Oh, god. That’s what that was. It wasn’t some invisible creep just pinning you to the bed. It wasn’t Papyrus refusing to let you go. It was Sans’ and Papyrus’ magic, seeping throughout the house and reacting to anything foreign. Trying to regain control of a situation that put their bodies out of whack. It was like a living thing almost, an entity that was confused and created chaos to reflect its own state of mind. Or…something like that, anyway.

Still. Despite the heaviness to your SOUL, you weren’t going to let Sans risk passing on his sickness – or even amplifying and agitating it – just because he had this crazy notion that it was going to harm you.

You were human. Made from blood, flesh and bone. Their magical sickness wasn’t going to have any effect on you whatsoever! Well…maybe some _side effects_ were blocking you from trying to make things right, but that wasn’t something they could help.

Papyrus dropped down from his own spot and walked on over to you. Refusing to leave your side, slumped and running on fumes to make sure you didn’t wander out of his sight.

“Get back into bed, I’m going to…make you…some tea!”

Your fingers stretched out and lingered on the baggy of special ingredients. You were almost there! So close!

Until Annoying Dog scuttled out from under the bed, grabbed it between its teeth, and bounded away.

“NO! Come BACK here!!!”

Renewed with energy, you hurled yourself toward it. Screaming and begging and pleading for it to give it back. But it didn’t. It just tucked its tail between its legs to go faster, zipping along the carpet like nobody’s business.

Shit!!!

You tripped on your own two feet and went crashing down. Wait, no you didn’t! It was the blue magic again! Coming down past the walls and knocking into you because you were in motion! 

You bit your lip and tried not to dwell too much on the unpleasant tightening in your chest, gritting your teeth and following the muddy pawprints that trailed down to the staircase.

You slid across the wooden floor and cornered it. Staring. Arms spread and lilting voice to get it to stop trembling. You weren’t going to hurt it, honest! You were just going to grab the stuff and make sure that both brothers sipped away at it to get their magic and bodies back into shape!

“OUCHIE!!!”

A mild blossom of panic in your chest. “Sans?!” 

You looked at the dog. It stared back. Both of you exchanging a quiet moment of rivalry before you made your decision.

You had to get to the kitchen. That was where the scream came from. If he somehow managed to injure himself on your watch, you would never forgive yourself. He was always careful and practiced whenever he was in a normal state of mind, but this was different. Everything about him was out of whack, including his balance and sense of self.

You were just about to cross the doorway when Papyrus appeared. Stopping right in front of you with arms spread wide and a mischievous, lazy grin on his face.

“Nooooo!” you cried, crashing right into him.

Hug. Smother. Squish. He lifted you up off the ground and kept you so close that you could’ve sworn you were going to fall into him and disappear forever. At some point, he lost feeling in his legs and the both of you sank down to your knees. Arms completely encircling you and a rumbling laugh in his chest.

You let out a muffled sound of protest. His SOUL throbbed in response, his magic seeping out of his hoodie and floating along you lazily.

As much as you wanted to stay and…indulge in this, because you knew it was going to be a _long_ time before you got another chance, you had to keep your focus.

You pried Papyrus’ face from nestling in the middle of your chest – when had that even happened? – and shot off toward the stove.

Sans sat there. His ungloved hand lingering above the dials of the stove. He looked like he’d burned himself trying to crank up the heat on the burner and gotten too close to the growing temperatures. He shook his fingers and blew on them, like that would even do anything, before he angled his head toward you with a pained smile.

“What…am I gonna do with you guys?” You asked, knowing full well that no one would answer.

Sans stretched his hand out to you, distraught, while Papyrus somehow snaked his arms around your waist from behind and put you to his chest.

It took about three minutes of you running Sans’ finger underneath cool water for his pain to disappear. You really wished you knew healing magic so you didn’t have to deal with this. Sans didn’t seem to mind, fixated on the dripping water from the faucet. A few times he had to step away and his entire body shook as he forced himself not to explode with excess energy and risk destroying the furniture or decorations in the hall.

“Okay, we’re getting serious. Sans! Your sole mission is to get Papyrus onto the couch in the living room and get him to stay there!”

He saluted shakily. Got into stance. And wobbled over to his brother and pushed him outside of the kitchen.

“I’m making you guys some regular tea until the dog shows back up. Take a seat and don’t move!”

You cranked up the heat to get the water to boil. The pot simmered and bubbled after no time. You reached inside the box to grab a bag of their favorite flavor, the small piece of paper on the end of the string tangled up in itself. You were getting impatient, so you tugged hard and—

The entire powdered contents fell into the water.

Oh, come on! You stared down at the water while it sloshed upwards and nearly splashed against your face, the crank on the stovetop going up and up and…what the HELL was going on?! You sputtered and took a giant step back before it could give you an unwanted – and scalding – facial.

Why.

_Why?_

All you wanted to do was give back to the brothers. When you got sick, they bent over backwards to make sure you got better. They made you food, prepared your room, even started up the perfect bath to relax your nerves. It was a lot of effort that paid off.

But this?

This was a disaster.

You were just supposed to get them to drink the tea and things would be peachy keen. Instead, you nearly gave yourself third-degree burns and accomplished absolutely nothing. No tea. No remedy. No nothing! Sans had nearly hurt himself, Papyrus was probably passed out and would get pissed at you for letting him get so handsy, and you were the worst girlfriend ever.

They were monsters. They figured out your customs. What did it say about you if you couldn’t stack up to their wonderful, attentive actions? They made it romantic and heartfelt, whereas you were clumsy and downright pathetic.

You trudged over to the couch and sighed. Settled in between the brothers. Sans with the distinct cloud around his face, Papyrus an immobile lump of hands and smooches.

Both of them curled up next to you and crashed out.

You followed suit, exhausted with this day and just wanting it to end.

“MWEH HEH HEH!”

“bro, settle down. she’s still asleep.”

“I KNOW, BUT I HAVE TO GET OUTSIDE SOON OR ELSE I AM GOING TO EXPLODE!!! DO YOU THINK THAT SHE SET UP AN ALARM ON HER PHONE?”

You stirred from your spot and felt groggy. Like you hadn’t slept at all. Which was impossible, considering…when you glanced at the time on the clock hoisted above the wall, it’d been at least ten hours since you crashed out.

Why were you so exhausted, then?

Papyrus walked over and settled in near your legs. There was just enough room at the end of the couch where he could sit and watch you. Sans crawled over on the ground and plopped his head on your arm, peering up at you with stars in his eyesockets.

You gasped. “W…wait a second. You guys are okay! What happened? The last time I saw you, you were totally out of it! Did Undyne stop by and pick up where I left off? Did the dog bring back the herbs?”

“NO!” Sans grinned. “IT WAS YOU! YOU HELPED US GET BETTER!”

“Uh, I didn’t do anything.”

“you did.” Papyrus ran his hand along the curve of your calf, and even though the blanket you could feel the tenderness to his touch. “you’re, uh…well…”

“COMPATIBLE! THAT’S THE WORD MY BROTHER IS LOOKING FOR.” Sans vibrated with excitement. “WHEN WE GOT INFECTED, YOUR PRESENCE IN OUR HOME PUT OUR MAGIC BACK TO NORMAL! YOU HAD JUST THE RIGHT TYPE THAT IT WAS RE-INTRODUCED INTO OUR SYSTEM AND LEVELED THINGS OUT! PRETTY NEATO, RIGHT?! I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE ABLE TO DO THAT, BUT YOU HELPED US IN RECORD TIME!”

Record time…?

“YES, THAT IS WHAT I SAID. I CAN HEAR THE QUESTION IN YOUR SILENCE.” Sans hummed. “IT WAS AMAZING!!! TRULY, YOU ARE THE BESTEST MOST WONDERFUL AND PERFECT GIRLFRIEND EVER! IN ONE HOUR AND TWELVE MINUTES YOU MANAGED TO HELP US RESOLVE EVERYTHING!!! AND EVEN WITHOUT THAT TERRIBLE QUEASY FEELING AT THE END OF IT!”

You couldn’t believe this. After all of your whining and self-deprecation, you’d actually…helped them get better? And just by sticking around in their house?

“seems like…uh…your SOUL? it’s been around our magic for so long, s’like a little part of us that came back around to set us right. nyeh heh heh.”

“ISN’T IT ROMANTICAL? OUR FEELINGS REACHED YOUR SOUL SO IT SAVED THAT SENSATION OF COMPLETE AND ULTIMATE LOVE FOR A TIME WHEN WE NEEDED IT MOST! AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO FOR AS LONG AS WE ARE TOGETHER!”

You couldn’t stop smiling.

“SEE? I TOLD YOU IT WAS AMAZING AND COOL!” He stretched his entire upper half on your chest and giggled into you. “IT IS A VERY GOOD THING YOU CAME FOR US. I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT, BUT I WAS REALLY SCARED YOU WOULD GET BEAT UP BY OUR MAGIC! DID WE…HURT YOU?”

“Absolutely not,” you told him truthfully. It was a bit scary, sure, but that was part of dating a monster. Learning to adapt to new and exciting things, no matter how dangerous it appeared to be.

“I AM…SO RELIEVED…” He sobbed dramatically into the crook of his arm. “PAPY!!! WE NEED TO CELEBRATE! WE ARE GOING TO TELL EVERYONE OF THE NEWS AND THROW A BIG PARTY!!!”

He chuckled and put his arms behind his head, kicking his feet up onto the table. “no can do, bro. as far as they know, we’re still in quarantine.”

“OH…I SEE…” Sans winked audibly. “IT SEEMS WE WILL JUST HAVE TO STAY INDOORS FOR ANOTHER DAY. IF…YOU ARE UP FOR IT, DATEMATE.”

You wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

>  **comment if you're so inclined!** i love receiving and responding to them!
> 
> [want to donate?](http://www.ko-fi.com/A258IM#_=_)


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